The president of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Liberty Chiyaka, was the first to endorse the initiative, followed by the four vice-presidents of the parliamentary group.
In a public ceremony in Luanda, the leaders of the United Patriotic Front (FPU) also subscribed to the initiative, namely Adalberto Costa Júnior (president of UNITA), Justino Pinto de Andrade (vice-president of the Democratic Bloc) and Abel Chivukuvuku (project coordinator political PRA JA Serving Angola).
The remaining UNITA deputies also signed, on the occasion, the proposal and initiative for the prosecution and dismissal of the President, to the sound of live music by lyrical singer Célsio Mambo.
Liberty Chiyaka stressed, referring to the Constitution of the Republic of Angola (CRA) that the dismissal proposal must be supported, in this first phase, with a minimum of one third of deputies (73 deputies) of the National Assembly in effective functions.
A copy of the deputy card and a copy of the identity card were the requirements presented by the deputies for the subscription of the legislative initiative.
"Here at this ceremony there are 86 deputies present, we have four absences, three for health reasons, duly justified, and one on a work mission, so to say that of the 73 signatures that are determined we have largely exceeded that margin", he stressed.
"After this signature, the legal conditions have been formally met for the nation's deputies to begin the process of removing the President of the Republic", he assured.
The parliament, where the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) holds the majority of seats with 124 deputies, against 90 deputies from UNITA, is composed of 220 deputies.
For the removal of the President, according to the CRA, two thirds of the deputies in office, that is, 146 deputies must unanimously approve the UNITA proposal in plenary, which wants to have the participation of "all the deputies of the nation" .
UNITA alleges that the President "subverted the democratic process in the country and consolidated an authoritarian regime that threatens peace" and, therefore, must be removed.
Doctrinal, political-constitutional and political performance foundations constitute the axes of UNITA's initiative, made public in July, referring that João Lourenço's governance "is against democracy, against social peace and against national independence".
At the signing ceremony for the process, Liberty Chiyaka said that "it is by the will of the people" that the deputies decided to ratify the initiative to remove João Lourenço, who has been serving his second term since September 2022.
"It is by the will of the people that we are here, we are here to demonstrate clearly and unequivocally by signing the initiative proposal for the process of indictment and dismissal of the President of the Republic, we are here to say that we are free deputies, we swear to comply and enforce the Constitution and the laws", he stressed.
For the UNITA politician, there is no conflict between the deputies and the head of state, "there is a conflict between the President of the Republic and the people".
With the "genuine desire" to resolve "this conflict between the President of the Republic and the people", he argued, the deputies took the initiative to impeach the President for subsequent removal".
"The President of the Republic has failed in the commitment he assumed with the Angolans, several commitments", has "violated the CRA and the law", has "attacked the normal and regular functioning of institutions, whether of the judiciary or the legislature", accused.
The President's dismissal process reflects, in Liberty Chiyaka's opinion, an initiative to say enough of violations, "of violation of fundamental human rights" and that it is necessary to "turn the page".
He also denied that the initiative is just to create political facts, considering that "it is very serious" and "of high responsibility".
"You cannot take an initiative lightly just to create a political fact, and we are sure, we are confident that the nation's deputies, whether they belong to one parliamentary group or another, in conscience know what is right and know what is bad," he pointed out.
Without giving a deadline for submitting the process to parliament, the deputy also said that expressing support for the President of the Republic "is not done through communiqués, declarations or marches", but "through secret, free and conscientious voting".
"The dismissal process is not a coup d'état, but the fulfillment of a constitutional mandate", he concluded.
The MPLA parliamentary group reaffirmed, on Monday, "its unconditional support" to its leader, guaranteeing "loud and clear" that there will be no dismissal of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
The position was expressed during the reading of the political declarations, of a plenary meeting, by the leader of the MPLA parliamentary group, Virgílio de Fontes Pereira.
